This paper reviews the history, definitions, descriptions, and current trends in whole language, an alternative language teaching philosophy. The entire construct of motivation is reviewed and defined. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the implementation of the whole language approach affects student motivation in an English as a foreign language (EFL) university setting. Results show that the whole language approach had two effects on EFL university students' motivation: (1) all subjects were able to achieve their goals; and (2) 65 percent put in greater effort than in previous EFL studies, whereas 30 percent put in equal effort. The whole language approach had a positive influence on the students' motivation. The subjects reported several possible reasons for the positive results, including the following: the continuity of the course, being able to learn new material, enjoyment of the course and class activities, being able to keep up with the rest of the class, few opportunities to get off-task, higher expectations, interesting content, and improvement of language skills. The role of teachers and the attitudes of students were also held to be important factors. (Contains 25 references.) (KFT)